RFP Example 1: Eligibility Requirements

Funding Opportunity Description

The overall goal of the NIH Research Career Development program is to help ensure that a diverse pool of highly trained scientists is available in appropriate scientific disciplines to address the Nation's biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research needs. In addition to this opportunity, NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs) support a variety of other mentored career development programs designed to foster the transition of new investigators to research independence. These other programs may be more suitable for particular candidates. NIH also supports non-mentored career development programs for independent investigators. More information about Career programs may be found at the NIH Extramural Training Mechanisms website.

The objectives of the NIH Academic Career Award (K07) are to increase the pool of individuals with academic and research expertise in a specific area of biomedical research and to enhance the educational or research capacity at the grantee institution. The K07 Development Award supports more junior investigators who are interested in developing academic and research expertise in a particular health-related field, as a way to increase the overall pool of individuals capable of research or teaching in the identified area. Research, teaching, and leadership skills are to be learned during the tenure of the award. Curriculum building skills are encouraged.

The objective of the Cancer Prevention, Control, Behavioral Sciences, and Population Sciences Career Development Award (K07) is to increase the pool of individuals with academic and research expertise in these specific areas of biomedical research. The award provides salary and mentored research support for a sustained period of "protected time" to junior investigators who are interested in developing academic and research expertise in these particular health-related fields. Candidates must have no more than 8 years of research experience after the terminal doctoral degree at the time of the initial or the subsequent resubmission application; clinical training is not included within this 8-year limit. The expectation is that, through this sustained period of research career development and training under the guidance of an experienced mentor in the biomedical, behavioral, or clinical sciences, awardees will launch fully independent research careers and become competitive for new research project grant (e.g., R01) funding.

For the purpose of this funding opportunity, cancer control research is defined as "basic and applied research in the behavioral sciences that independently or in combination with biomedical approaches reduces cancer risk, incidence, morbidity, and mortality across the lifespan and over the entire process of carcinogenesis from primary behavioral prevention in youth, to screening, treatment, and survivorship".